Humility is when we take an honest look at ourselves. The fear the LORD is when we take at real good look at God.
One of our 26 Weekly Character Qualities at Helping Up Mission, we define Humility as “realizing how God and others are actually responsible for the accomplishments in my life.” When I do that, I come to understand my own limitations. It is a critical concept to seeing myself as I really am.
“The fear of the LORD” is the result of learning how to see God as He really is. When I see and understand all His greatness, love and power – as well as His holiness, righteousness and justice – I will begin to know just how awesome He really is. At that point, we have begun to grasp what is “the fear of the LORD.”
As a result of understanding and practicing both of these concepts, we will begin experiencing some amazing things in our lives. This verse notes particularly “wealth and honor and life.” Just practicing these two basic spiritual principles sets us up to have and enjoy a pretty great way of life.
So it should not be a surprise to know that these two concepts – seeing myself as I really am and seeing God as He really is – are the Biblical basis of Steps 1 and 2 of the 12 Steps of recovery. They are the foundational starting point of an incredible spiritual journey – one day at a time.